Pokemon Black and White spotlight: Shimboraa, Purotooga, Aaken and their evolutions

Fans of fossil Pokemon, unite! This week we bring you both ofBlack and White's newfossil families: physical specialistsPurotooga and Abagoora, as well astheunusual and exoticRock/Flying types Aaken and Aakeosu.And as a bonus, we're throwing in the mesmerizing single-stage Psychic/Flying type Shimboraa.Let's take a closer look.

Shimboraa
#067 Unova / #561 National
Type: Psychic/Flying
Species classification: Pseudo Bird Pokemon
Abilities:
Miracle Skin – Halves the chance of user being hit by status affliction-only moves
Magic Guard – Prevents damage from indirect moves and status effects (Leech Seed, Toxic, Spikes etc)
Dream World ability: Tinted Lens – doubles the effectiveness of "not very effective" moves
Location found (Black/White): Resort Desert
Wild hold items: None
Egg groups: Flying
Capture rate: 70
Gender ratio: 50/50
Experience at lvl 100: 1,000,000
Base stats: 72 HP / 58 Atk / 80 Def / 103 SAtk / 80 SDef / 97 Spd / 490 Total
Effort values: 2 Special Attack
Evolution family: None

Kokoromori is one of our favorite designs from this generation, so it's almost a shame that Black and White introduces another Psychic/Flying type to compete with our adorable bat friend, especially sinceShimboraa really outclassesKokoromori in almost every way. Yes, Psychic/Flying is not the best typing in the world (five weaknesses), but the Psychic/Flying-types of B&W make up for it with interesting moves and abilities.

Shimboraa's most notable feature is its Magic Guard ability, which only a handful of other Pokemon can possess (only three other evolutionary families, to be exact). It's an incredible boon in so many different ways – it prevents all non-direct damage, making Shimboraa immune to Spikes, Leech Seed, and all damage from status effects and weather (it doesn't prevent the status effect, just prevents any loss of HP). This isn't just useful for preventing damage from your opponent either, since Magic Guard also allows Shimboraa to hold a Life Orb without any HP penalty, giving it a free 30% boost in power to all moves.

Next page: Sea turtle fossilsPurotooga and Abagoora